E3 2010: Rage - Becoming a Bash TV Superstar

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Killing waves of mutants for fame and money? Sounds like id watches a lot of Celebrity Apprentice.

By Hilary Goldstein

Rage is already one of the prettiest games I've seen and it's still got at least another nine months of development time. But it's not just the visuals that impressed me when I got a chance to see a recent demo of id's upcoming open-world shooter. It's that so much of what is in Rage is so completely unexpected based on id's past titles.

I'd never have thought that id would create a big, often beautiful (and yes, sometimes hellish) world populated with colorful, memorable characters. Of course, all the usual stuff is here too--grotesque creatures, cool weapons, twitch shooting galore--but id seems to be pushing to break free of Doom's shadow to do something different. So far, it's looking like they'll succeed.

Not too long ago, we had a chance to get a good long look at Rage. Most of what was shown previously was shown again, but with one addition. I got to check out the very cool Bash TV.

Bash TV is a game show produced by the very fat and very pantsless J.K. Stiles. For the current live event, our road warrior must enter a funhouse full of mutants and survive to the end. Easier said than done.

While this sounds a lot like Borderlands' arena battles, Rage does it all far better. You enter a mad, twisted funhouse, and must progress from deadly room to deadly room, not only killing all attackers, but avoiding the traps and pitfalls that await. One room has a saw blade circling the perimeter. I'd like to think you're sharp enough to realize you want to avoid that blade.

Some rooms have traps and others just throw endless streams of enemies your way. That's fine too. When your character is blasting rabid villains who are leaping off the walls to pounce on you, combat looks fluid and chaotic and nerve-racking and a lot of fun.

Easily the coolest room in the Bash TV murder funhouse is the bonus round. A giant replica of a slot machine is on the wall. The wheels of the slot machine spin, showing one, two, or three dollar signs with ominous skulls mixed in. You have to shoot a button to stop each wheel. Get money on each wheel and good things happen. You continue to spin the wheel, trying to earn cash, though the wheels spin faster and faster each round. Hit a skull and enemies rush in, ending the bonus round (and potentially your life).

This particular game of Bash TV ends with a battle against a big, gnarly looking boss who happens to be joined by pesky minions. Fortunately, he adheres to the universal rule that all evil things hate being set on fire. And you are definitely packing heat.

Rage won't be out until 2011, but the more I see of it, the more I'm convinced it will be worth the wait. But oh, that wait will be tough.